v Abbots Bromley 09/05/21

WHCC vs Abbots Bromley-Through the camera lens

Who- Walsall Health vs Abbots Bromley

Where- Carters Park, Rushall

When- Sunday 9th May 2021

What type of match- VILLAGE?!

This Sunday, saw Abbots Bromley visit the Elf at our home ground of Carters park in Rushall. After what can only be described as a typical English Saturday’s weather, 24 hours of non-stop rain, the Elf and Abbots Bromley were both keen to get on the pitch and play some of the real beautiful game. A special notice must be made to the many players from the Elf who were happy to volunteer for Abbots Bromley to play the match and credit to our opponents for getting the game on. After a bit of heavy labour from our more experienced members, the toss was made and Abbots Bromley elected to bowl.

Up first to bat were Andy Gorton and Ian Chuck, could the pair continue to add to their tally of runs for the elf? Unfortunately it was not meant to be. Andy Gorton flicked a few down the leg side , before he was trapped in front by Ian Mitchell for 6. Out walked Andy Ince, well wintered and raring to go. Ian Chuck on the other hand, was steadily accumulating runs hitting a few lusty blows off the opening bowler s, before he succumbed to a full toss smacking it straight down mid-off’s throat. Out walked Alex Nunns who in true Nunns form ‘leant’ from the front . The partnership of Nunns and Ince accumulated runs at a good rate and even gave a few interesting moments when both men skied pulls, off the same bowler in the same over, only to see both fall safely. At 102 runs and approaching the drinks break, Abbots Bromley finally claimed the 3rd wicket when A Nunns pulled a full toss, yes another wicket on a full toss, to the man at square leg who took a catch that will have him raving to his son for many a year, rough luck Alex. With Ince set on 50 and looking dangerous, out walked Rob Hewlitt, who continued his fine form with some excellent shots, punishing full tosses, Chuck and Nunns were vigorously taking notes, and some excellent running between the wickets the score for the health continued to climb. At 153, Ince sadly fell to the bowling for Lowther for a well earned 80, Top knock Andy.

In strolled N Reeves who set about his usual direct approach of punishing any ball bowled at him . Nathan played his shot and sadly picked the fielder out in the deep and departed for 5. In walked D Armstrong, with the 193 still fresh in his mind, he continued his outstanding form quickly, striking any delivery in his zone to the boundary. The score from the elf was now in the 200 with 8 overs left.
A few members wondered whether the elf could break their record of 276 runs in 40 overs. With the score on 227 after 34 overs the record was set to be broken. Sadly the loss of Hewlitt, saw a loss of momentum with only 2 runs coming from the next over 229-6 after 35. In went D Preece who was methodical in his taking of singles in the last few overs of the match kept the scoreboard ticking and Armstrong being well…Armstrong, biffing bad balls away like they were beach balls, the race was on to see if the elf could break the record. The most surprising moment was watching D Armstrong ‘farming the strike’ claiming a single on the last ball in the 36th, 37th, 38th and 39th overs, something his batting partners will be mindful of in the future. That left the score at 262 with one over left. The record was 276. D Armstrong was batting…it could happen. 1,1,1 ok so 11 off 3, less likely but still possible. Another run, record gone! Maybe next time!
Sadly Armstrong had not finished his running yet, optimistically calling a 2 and ending up a few long strides short, he continued his run all the way to the clubhouse. That left R Fell to face 1 ball, with the Duck trophy always happy to claim members in this scenario, Fell made sure he would not be in the running yet allowing the ball to pass his leg side the score ended up on 266-7 after 40 overs.

Tea times are much less of an extravagant affair nowadays with players being encouraged to bring their own teas, a special note must be made to Lizzie Tancred, who baked a sublime Key-lime pie that had many players of the Elf returning for seconds and some thirds.

Abbots Bromley came out to bat with Ronson and Lowther opening up. Club pro D.Dunn started up and was successful in his first over claiming Ronson for 0. C Hall had similar success from the other end claiming Lowther for 0 with a sharp catch at mid-on by Nunns. With some good disciplined bowling from the openers, and some excellent fielding notably from R Fell and N Reeves , Abbots Bromley struggled to get going. Eventually, C Hall claimed the wicket of Mitchell after he took a particular liking to the club pro’s bowling. The first change bowler R Fell, bowled well all game to be fair but was not successful in claiming the wicket he sought. Meanwhile at the other end, the right arm slow of Chuck, we can hardly call them spinners at the pace some of those balls came down, set about picking holes on the Abbots Bromley batting, claiming 2 wickets in his first over. He continued to bowl tight, with the exception of when young S Davies began to send the ball disappearing over Chucks head with increasing frequency, many a cries of “toss the ball higher” seemed to fall on the deaf ears of Chuck. After some grumbling, he eventually got Davies when he walked down the wicket and Gorton, who in his usual form of whipping the bails off at every convenience to keep the guillotine sharp, stumped the youngster for a well batted 11. Haywood at the other end was very watchful and pushed the ball into gaps more often as the game progressed provided the visitors with some means of accumulating runs but when Chuck claimed the 4th wicket LBW of Bexon, things looked pretty dire for the visitors. Armstrong removed Haywood for 18 but Abbots Bromley continued to fight with some excellent rear guard action by Kirkland and Cantrill seeing them make their 40 overs with wickets still to spare, despite some tight bowling from Armstrong and Dave Preece. Abbots Bromley finished on 90-9 after their 40 overs.

Overall an enjoyable game on what turned out to be a rather nippy day but great to be playing cricket as always. Great to see some legends of the club popping down to support the team and a huge hand to both sets of supporters for enduring the cold weather. A special mention to Lizzie Tancred who seemed to be taking to her role of director of match day photography, though half the photos of the buzzard may not have been called f or, A big hand for some of the shots claimed today.